What would we like to see if Doctor Sleep gets made?

 What would we like to see if Doctor Sleep gets made?

F.E.A.R stands for Fuck Everything And Run. - Doctor Sleep.

In 2013 I received Stephen King's newest book in hardcover form as a secret santa exchange at my old work. I was completely thrilled seeing that I had heard nothing but great things about it. I still remember reading it over the course of the next month being completely captivated. There have only been a small handful of novels I simply couldn't put down. Doctor Sleep was one of them.

Now I might get some shit for this, but even as a massive King fan (both of his novels and movies) I really didn't like the book The Shinning. Sure the movie is good (the original) but I just really never got into the book. I've read it three times, once more after reading Doctor Sleep and just couldn't seem to get into it. I like it for what it is, and see why King wanted to see his real vision redone in the late 90's with the mini series, but when I got my sister a copy of Doctor Sleep for her to read, I answered her question of if she had to read The Shinning first to enjoy this book. I told her not really, it helps seeing that the book is very different than the 1980 film, but besides a few background basics if you go into Doctor Sleep blind, your actually going to be okay.

This book is a complete emotional journey from start to finish with the character of Danny. It's seriously a complete epic, and I'll admit I cried more than once while reading it. In fact I would say that this novel features one of King's greatest batch of villains. The True Knot.

Now I really don't know if we will ever get a film or mini series of Doctor Sleep, maybe a mini series (ABC most likely) will pick this story up. As wonderful as this tale is, I think not a lot of studios would want to touch it since it's the true sequel to the book, not the famous "Here's Johnny!" Shinning. Audiences might get confused unless they changed certain elements which in my mind might really wreck the movie. So here is a brief list of what we might want to see if Doctor Sleep ever gets made.

1) Get a strong cast.

 A film/mini series never works well without a strong cast.  I always felt if this ever is made, I would love to see either Sherilyn Fenn or Famke Janssen as Rose The Hat. Even now I think both women could rock this role beyond belief. For Danny, I could see Nick Stahl (God knows where he is these days), Jensen Ackles (would be cool to see him in another serious role, he was awesome in the My bloody Valentine remake), or even if they could in my wildest dreams get Tom Hardy. For Barry the chink maybe Joseph Gordon Levitt, for Snakebite Annie Choe Sevign, for Daddy Crow Zach Galligan. (surprise surprise) I mean come on now, couldn't you see Bailee Madison.

2) Keep the book's opening.

What might turn some people off, or get downright confused if they went with this direction is keeping the character of Dick alive for the opening, which shows Danny and his mother living down in Florida shortly after the whole Overlook ordeal. This is a very strong opening that sets the tone for the entire book. Dick shows Danny a trick of locking these "ghosts" into a lockbox and keeping them far away in his mind. Very creepy, and very heavy stuff which leads to the epic showdown at the end.

3) Keep with how brutal The True Knot is.

What makes The True Knot such amazing villains is what keeps them going. What their drive is, and how long they have been doing this. The whole backstory of them killing children that are special or have the gift of second sight aka The Shinning, they suck the life-force out of them, taking their "steam" in order to stay healthy and young. To keep with how serious this is I would show them as a whole and as a family, maybe even the flashback of them going to New York for 911 to feed, or butchering the young boy in the field all that time ago. The effects they could pull off showing them cycling would be amazing!

4) Keep the epic showdown!

What's so awesome about this sweeping epic of a story is the final showdown. Sure it might be a little hard to translate, mostly with Abra only being there mentally, but with a good enough director, I feel however this would be edited they could really show the epic ending at where the Overlook once stood in all it's glory. I would pay to see everything described in the book shown on the silver screen!

5) Keep the story's overall message.

What made this such a strong and impactful story was the character of Danny. Showing how low he started off in the beginning (the very strong scene of them stealing the money and watching the little baby reach towards the table with the coke thinking it's candy) how he drifted about for years, even being homeless working odd job to odd job pretty much following in his father's footsteps. Showing him making the choice to stay sober, and fight to stay that way is one of the most moving points of view throughout the entire book. How he fought, trying to do the right thing and even put Abra under his wing to teach her not to have history repeat itself. My favorite part of the entire book was him at his AA meeting years later finally making it ten years sober, and telling the story of his lowest moment and it dawning on him that it actually wasn't as bad as he thought and how he was finally able to break free from this pain. Very moving, and very beautiful.

So fingers crossed, and stay tuned!